Kaka...du or Kaka...dont?

There is a lot of talk about Kaka...du or Kaka...dont!  We heard many other travellers whinging about how expensive it is bla bla bla (it costs $50.00 per adult to enter the park and some campsites are expensive if you choose to stay at them). Although it wasn't as spectacular as some of the places we've been our vote is still Kaka...du!  The thing is you need time.  Its a huge park and if you only have a couple of days you will see a tiny portion and probably come away disappointed. 

We ended up in Kakadu National Park for a week.  We decided to base ourselves in Jabiru for 4 nights to do the Northern Part. The first day we spent in the Nourlangie area doing some walking trails, around billabongs and lookouts, and viewing the Aboriginal Rock Art sites.

We tried some fishing at Cahills Crossing on the East Alligator River.  No luck here, maybe we were put off by the numerous saltwater crocs cruising by!  We ended that day up at Ubirr, looking at the Ubirr rock art (some dating back 20,000 years!) and a climb up Ubirr rock to watch the sunset over the Nardab floodplains and Arnhem Land. (the top picture is of Ben up at Ubirr Rock)
  Cahills Crossing                                                               Can you see the croc just behind Scotts back

One of the big ones                                                            two more crocs in the distance

We spent a day exploring Jim Jim and Twin Falls. The first was Jim Jim, which during the wet produces a spectacular display of tonnes of water dropping over the 200m drop into the pool below. Usually at this time of the year (August) it would be completely dry, but as we had such a big wet we decided to have a look.  The drive in was a fun 4wd track with creek crossings and nice scenery. The falls were reduced to a trickle but we made our way (6km rtn) to the top of the falls for a swim.  We spent a couple of hours up there swimming and exploring.....most of the time on our own.
      Top of Jim Jim Falls                                                           Standing close to the ledge of the fall

We made it back to the bottom and headed off to Twin Falls, about a 10k drive away.  The only way to get to the bottom of the falls is to hop on the shuttle boat for a 5min ride up the gorge then take the walking track the rest of the way. 
            Scenery from the boat ride                                                   The walk in.....

     Time to cool down...No swimming allowed at Twin falls     

The crystal clear water looked so inviting until...."whats that smell?" oh its the stench from the rotting pigs head in the croc trap!                        

After covering the top half of the park we headed south to what turned out to be our favorite part.  A stop at the visitor information centre at Cooinda is well worth it. 
Hannah had an embarrassing moment though, deciding to jump out from behind a corner to scare Ben only to give a poor European toursit a fright instead! We had a quick look at the Yellow water billabong.  From here they operate the very popular Yellow Water cruises, which we decided not to do as we had already spent a whole day on the Corroborree Billabong. A further 50k south (all the main roads in Kakadu are bitumen) we took the 14km 4wd track access track into Maguk.
                                                                       Our bush camp at Maguk.   

The 2km walk to the bottom pool was cool and shady through the monsoon forest.  The next half opened up as we crossed back and forth over the creek, then the last part involved some rock hopping and climbing over boulders.  The bottom pool was nice but we've found on this trip that you need to make the effort to get to the top of the falls to find the really special spots.  So we headed back along the creek looking for a track heading up.  After a few failed attempts we found the right one and made it to the top. 
    Crocodile Management sign at the bottom                      Hannah takes the plunge up the top

We were rewarded for our efforts as the top pools were stunning.  Deep waterholes lined by sheer walls with perfect jumping platforms for the kids. 

Taken out of my comfort zone the kids encouraged me to swim through this pool. Actually I remember Ben's exact words did crack me up "Come on Mum remember, adventure is our family moto" The photos don't seem to bring out the colour but the water was very dark, almost black and no one else was swimming here.  It was the first time I felt unsettled in the water, maybe it was the image of those black water pythons we had seen in the information centre earlier that day! Anyway I did it, although I sent Scott in first and refused to go through the hole at the end.

Our final stop in Kakadu National Park was Gunlom Gorge.  Our campsite had a view of the falls.

Hannah at the bottom pool and the view from the top